This invention relates to computer image generation with topographical response, and, more particularly, to computer image generation having the capability to present images in real time that reflect relative motion between a view-point and a simulated landscape or scene, wherein the relative motion is not pre-programmed or canned, but is derived from real-time sampling to determine the present interrelationship between the view-point and the scene.
The images depict scenes that would be viewed by an operator or passenger in a vehicle wherein the images reflect vehicle motion (pitch, roll and yaw) as the vehicle interacts with the environment of the scene it is traversing. In addition, the motion of a vehicle remote from a view-point may be presented as it interacts with topographical features of the scene.
Computer image generation has been used for facilitating instruction and/or training in the operation and control of a vehicle without need for actually operating the vehicle. A typical configuration includes a model or mock-up of an operator compartment having controls, monitors and status displays like those encountered in an actual vehicle, along with a display device for presenting images to the operator of scenes that would be observed by a driver of the actual vehicle over a real landscape.
Prior vehicle models have been confined to operate through simulated landscapes over predetermined paths, such as roads, bridges and highways, with excursions therefrom limited. Typically there was no rolling terrain so that the ground was flat, or for each place where the vehicle could be in the data base describing the landscape, a slope of the terrain was predeterminedly assigned. The first case over simplifies the simulation for non-conventional vehicle movement and the second requires substantial storage capability that may not be readily available or not feasible to implement.
With increasing popularity of recreational (RV), off-road and all-terrain vehicles, and the like, that are able to deviate from traditional vehicle routes and to navigate over the landscape, it would be desirable to present images in real-time that reflect the actual scenes that would be viewed by an operator while taking non-conventional paths over the landscape, wherein the freedom of choice of path is not restricted. Further, it would be desirable to supply information relating to the type of, or objects on, the terrain, such as asphalt, mud, rocks, boulders, shrubbery, for determining vehicle interaction therewith both for adding realism to the images presented, and for deriving audio cues, which are especially effective for assisting operator training of land based maneuvering.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to present images acurately representing actual scenes that would be observed by an operator while directing a vehicle on non-conventional paths over the landscape without having to actually operate the vehicle.
Another object is to provide audio cues to the operator that correspond to real-time interaction between the vehicle and the landscape.